Srinagar, June 26: National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said he will consult his party leadership and PAGD members before opening up on the meeting with the Prime Minister held in New Delhi last Thursday while asserting that one would have to wait and watch “on what the Centre does to remove the mistrust.”
Dr Farooq said this while addressing a press briefing here after his return from New Delhi.
“The meeting with the PM was quite good and took place in a cordial atmosphere. All the leaders put forward their point of view in front of the PM. It was the first step from their side for making the situation in J&K better and creating a political movement.”
Dr Abdullah said he made it clear in the meeting that the “first prime minister of India promised plebiscite but went back on it, PM Narsimha Rao ji promised autonomy and said sky is the limit, the PM on the floor of house said there is level of mistrust and that mistrust has to be removed and that is why even Dr Karan Singh today has said statehood must be restored.”
“Let’s not jump and let us see what they do to remove the mistrust or will they continue with the mistrust,” Dr Abdullah added.
When asked if the National Conference will participate in the Delimitation Commission, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah who also addressed the media said: “The party has made it very clear. They have authorised Dr sahab to take a view as and when necessary. There has been no fresh approach to the National Conference from the Delimitation Commission.” He refused to reply to a question on what would be the view of the National Conference if it becomes part of the Delimitation Commission. “Why should we tell it here? He (Dr Farooq) has been authorised to take a view, he will take it there,” Omar said.
Omar said that during the PM’s meeting, the invited leaders had disagreed on the proposed plan of the Government of India to first hold Assembly polls in J&K and then restore statehood. “Before the PM addressed us all, Azad sahab (Ghulam Nabi Azad) spoke on behalf of all of us and said this timeline is not acceptable to us,” Omar said.
“Not Delimitation followed by election and then statehood. But Delimitation, statehood and then elections. If elections are to be held then first restore statehood and then we will talk on elections,” Omar said.
Omar said they will continue to reiterate this demand whenever they get an opportunity. Omar said had the leaders been invited in the meeting as representatives of the PAGD, then only one of them would have spoken there. “It were the parties that were invited there. NC, PDP and CPI (M) who are PAGD members took part in the meeting. No such point was made which is outside the agenda of the Gupkar Alliance. The alliance says that we don’t agree on the decisions of August 5, 2019 and whatever we have to do constitutionally, peacefully, legally to undo this, we will do that,” Omar said.
Omar said it is not the case that the PAGD members in the all-party meeting agreed upon the decisions of August 5, 2019. “We said that people are angry and unhappy with this decision. They want change,” Omar said.
Omar said that in the all-party meeting it was Ghulam Nabi Azad and Muzaffar Hussain Beigh who said that the issue of Article 370 was sub-judice and cannot be discussed. “I don’t believe that just because it is in front of the Supreme Court, it is not for the discussion. It was a subject in our DDC polls,” Omar said.
Omar said he personally had no plans to contest the elections but “party decision will be its own.”
He said their aim was not to betray people by telling them that “decisions of August 5, 2019 will be reversed through PM Modi. “Dr sahab and Mehbooba ji both clearly told the PM that whether it takes 70 days or 70 years, we will not step back on our mission,” Omar said.